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Saturday, 25 May 2013

Design Essentials Strengthening Therapy System Review

As many of you will have seen here, Friday I had the Design Essentials Strengthening Therapy System using the Transitioning mousse.

I want to start by saying that before I went my ends were AWFUL, my last 'trim' was in January and it was so minor that after the trim I still had a lot of damage.

The treatment requires a fine tooth comb so that the treatment coats the hair, this was a nightmare for my ends and they just had to go. Not only that but my layers are awful. The right side of my hair looks like a chunk has just been cut out of it so I was very happy to have that all sorted.

It cost me £150 and included a shampoo and conditioner. See here to find out some more about the treatment.

Results

The first picture is from a few months ago, as you can see my hair is dull lifeless and flat. It looks dry here even though it really wasn't. This is a few days old flat ironed and curled hair.

I honestly think this doesn't actually do it justice. Please bare in mind I had slept on this hair and I have no idea how to wrap my hair so its gone a bit odd

My hair is so shiny now. I also wish you could somehow reach through your computers to actually feel my hair, because it feels literally like silk! Its amazing.

Although for me, the best thing about it is that my hair MOVES so much, the strands slide over each over meaning my hair looks bouncy and REALLY blows in the wind.

The result is what I expected when I first got a relaxer. But its clear that breaking down the hair and damaging it isn't going to result in healthy results. This treatment builds up the hair and strengthens it.
I like to describe it as a very very fancy conditioner.

The Process

I got the application at plush hair and beauty in Bromley, Kent/ Greater London. I was slightly anxious on arrival when I saw a women with shorter than ear length hair getting her relaxed hair styled. The steam coming off the flat iron and blow dryer was enough to make anyone concerned with healthy hair, cringe.

However, when talking to my stylist Sylvia, she really knew what she doing and I did really trust her.

Firstly, I got a really deep cleanse with a clarifying shampoo. My itchy scalp was soothed and my hair felt thoroughly clean and not dry at all.

The treatment was then applied to my hair, with a fine tooth comb. Like I said earlier this did mean my already damaged ends became a bit of a nightmare but I do recommend detangling your hair thoughrouly before getting this treatment, which I didn't actually do due to a hectic few days.

The application, other than the detangling, was painless. No smell. No stinging. Nothing. It really did feel like a conditioner was being applied. Once the treatment was on, it was left for 15 minutes.

Sitting with treatment on

Next the hair was blow dryed with a paddle brush and flat ironed in tiny tiny sections. The good thing about this treatment is that the hair only has to be flat ironed once or twice for it to be activated rather than the conventional 10 of brazillian keratin treatments. However, my hair strands were flat ironed 2-4 times which was a bit annoying. Once this was completed my hair looked and felt shiny and I was very excited. Although I was left thinking, is this really worth £150?

At this point I also had a much needed trim, and my stylist gave me an AMAZING cut. Possibly the best one i've had of my whole life. She showed me how much she would trim and asked for my opinion before cutting it.

Blow dry result - it looked a lot shiner in real life

My hair was then washed again and conditioned. Once my hair was washed I had a quick look for heat damage and saw none which is good. My conditioned hair looked smoother with no frizz, I'll be excited to see my curls.

Then it was styled, during blow drying smoke or steam did appear every so often so I'll be keep a look out for any bubble hair. The blow dry was great. My roots were straight and flat, the hair was silky and beautiful I really hope I can recreate it. At this point I became convinced the money was worth it.

Again my hair was flat ironed in tiny sections with the flat iron going over my hair around 3 times. I will say here that yes that is a lot of heat in one day! It meant each strand had endured 5-9 passes of the flat iron which is definitely a lot.

I'll be sure to look out for damage and let you all know. I will also say the salon was busy and I have a lot of hair so ended up being there for five hours.

Once the process was over I was recommended to buy the leave in conditioner to use before blow drying and the liquid shine spray. I was then given the strengthening therapy Cleansing Sulphate Free Shampoo and express instant moisturising conditioner My stylist said that as I havent been deep conditioning and looking after my hair much recently (Exams took over my life) that when I start that up again my hair will be even SHINER!
I'm just interested to see how long it actually lasts.

Your hair looks great in these pics. What is the status of your hair now? I have virigin hair. I'm willing to try this system if your results have been consistent and if u still recommend. I'm anxious to read your response.